Ohio State senior quarterback Will Howard had a most ironic moment while leading his No. 4-ranked Buckeyes (7–1) squad past the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions 20–13 on Saturday.
Howard threw an interception that Penn State sophomore cornerback Zion Tracy returned 31 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. A childhood Nittany Lions fan who didn’t get recruited by the program, Howard got roasted on social media over throwing the pick to Penn State (7–1).
However, Howard had the last laugh on Saturday with a pair of touchdown passes that put the Buckeyes ahead to stay before a packed stadium of 111,030 fans in Happy Valley. He connected with Buckeyes wide receivers Emeka Egbuka and Brandon Inniss on scores of 25 and 21 yards respectively for a 14–10 halftime lead.
Howard went 16–24 passing for 182 yards, and he rushed for 24 yards on 12 carries. He threw for his fewest yards all season, and he had his second-lowest passer rating at 149.5 and second-fewest completions plus second-lowest completion percentage at 66.7 percent.
Nonetheless, the Downingtown, Pennsylvania, native got to play at the stadium he grew up dreaming of playing at. That’s in addition to knocking off a third-ranked unbeaten team—something Ohio State didn’t pull off last month in a loss to now-No. 1 Oregon.
“We talked about it earlier in the week, man. So we’re gonna have to will ourselves to win this game,” Howard said regarding the Buckeyes’ latest top-four matchup. “Like there’s no way we’re gonna be able to lose … and that was the way we played, man.”
Penn State’s 10–0 lead evaporated in less than 10 minutes of game clock as the Buckeyes took the lead at 14–10 with 11:54 left in the half. Howard led the Buckeyes on scoring drives of seven plays for 74 yards and 10 plays for 81 yards, and both lasted under four minutes apiece.
Penn State meanwhile punted twice, and Nittany Lions quarterback Drew Allar threw an interception before the break. Other than a 49-yard field goal by kicker Riley Thompson in the second half, Penn State’s offense punted and turned it over on downs at the goal line with a chance to tie or take the lead.
“The defense stepped up,” Howard said. “Two huge stops, man, right on the goal line. That changed the game.”
Howard also gave a shout-out to the offensive line after taking “flack” in the media all week. The Buckeyes offensive line has been beset by injuries and less than 100 yards rushing since the second half of the Oregon loss going into Saturday. Ohio State had 176 yards rushing against Penn State plus a nearly three-minute edge in time of possession, and the Nittany Lions only sacked Howard three times.
“For them to step up the way that they did, for us to run the ball, and keep the ball in our hands, and win the game with the ball in our hands, I mean, that’s unbelievable,” Howard said.
Ohio State junior running back Quinshon Judkins led the ground game with 95 yards on 14 carries for his best showing since early-season games against Marshall and Western Michigan. Senior back TreVeyon Henderson rushed for 54 yards on 10 carries.
Despite Ohio State’s ground game, the Buckeyes couldn’t get the ball in the end zone during the second half. Kicker Jayden Fielding iced the game instead with field goals of 46 and 39 yards.
“Just being able to scrape out a win like that, it’s not pretty,” Howard said. “They’re a good football team. I do believe that, and they did some good things. I did some bad things.”
“I can’t give enough credit to my teammates,” Howard added. “They bailed me out.”
